more
Does any pianist play Mozart with more verve?
Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) playing Mozart (Sonata in D major [K 311], Sonata in F major [K 332]), Germany (Munich), 1991
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Fruits of the Midi1881
another take
Once I enter this world I never want to leave.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987; MCOTD Hall of Fame), Piano and String Quartet (1985); Musica Nova Consort, live, Israel (Tel Aviv), 2017
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Going home,
the horse stumbles
in the winter wind.—Yosa Buson, 1716-1784 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
You can listen, on NPR, CNN, XYZ, to today’s noise (Trump: “This is an American disgrace!”), or you can listen to this—your call.
Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) playing Mozart (Sonata in F major [K 332], Fantasy in C minor [K 475], Sonata in C minor [K 457]), Germany (Munich), 1990
Last night, like many other nights, this kept me company, on repeat, as I slept.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987; MCOTD Hall of Fame), Piano and String Quartet (1985); Kronos Quartet with Aki Takahashi (piano)
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Head of Sorrow, 1882 (Rodin: Sculptor and Storyteller, through March 4th)
never enough
If I could play like this, I’d never stand up.
Johann Sebastian Bach, Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, Prelude; Eva Lymenstull (baroque cello), 2017
**********
lagniappe
reading table
I like this story from the N.Y. Times—a composition by a child in the third grade: ‘I told my little brother that when you die you cannot breathe and he did not say a word. He just kept on playing.’
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), Letter to Robert Lowell, September 8, 1948
How about a trip to the nineteenth century?
Daniil Trifonov, piano (Chopin, Schumann, Grieg), live (studio performance), Washington, D.C., 1/12/18
**********
lagniappe
reading table
To shut our eyes is Travel.
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Letter 354
Astonishing performance.
Astonishing piece.
Anton Webern (1883-1945), Variations, op. 27 (1936)
Glenn Gould (1932-1982), piano
**********
lagniappe
reading table
What Miracles the News is!
Not Bismark but ourselves.—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Letter 354
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations; Evgeni Koroliov, piano
**********
lagniappe
radio
WKCR’s (Columbia University) Bach Festival continues through midnight tomorrow.
*****
random sights
other day, Sonoma, Calif.
love it or hate it
Brian Ferneyhough (1943-), String Quartet No. 6 (2010); Arditti Quartet, live, 2010
**********
lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, San Francisco (Lands End)
*****
*****
Tonight, at 1 a.m. (EST), one of the year’s great musical events begins: the annual Bach Festival—now in its 40th year—broadcast on WKCR-FM (Columbia University). All Bach, all the time, until midnight New Year’s Eve. Hope, beauty, inspiration: they aren’t luxuries; they’re necessities.
Johann Sebastian Bach, Mass in B minor (excerpt, “Dona nobis pacem”); Berlin Philharmonic (Ton Koopman, cond.) with RIAS Chamber Choir (Justin Doyle, chorus master), live, Berlin, 10/28/17
*****
Johann Sebastian Bach, Cello Suite No. 6 in D major; Mischa Maisky (cello), live
music clip of the day 